The Core ATET Design Pillars in Depth

Subjective Interface

The game is about the subjective nature of experience. Therefore, the player’s interface with the world—the UI itself—should reflect this. Avoid the temptation to present information with objective, database-like clarity.

• Philosophical Question: How does the game show the player information, and how does that presentation change based on the Incarnation’s Faiths and Fictions?

• Design Application:

  • Memory: When the player accesses their AgentMemoryStore, don’t show them a log file. Show them fragmented images, snippets of dialogue warped by emotional_valence. A traumatic memory might be visually distorted or have corrupted audio. A cherished memory might be bathed in a warm light.

  • Beliefs: Don’t present the AgentBeliefStore as a spreadsheet. Perhaps beliefs manifest as a whisper in the UI, an intrusive thought, or a filter over the world. A Belief that “Wolves are Dangerous” might cause wolf-like shapes to appear more menacing or larger than they are, or cause a faint, ominous music to play when they are near.

  • UI as Character: The UI is not a neutral window onto the simulation. The UI is the Incarnation’s perception. This makes interacting with the game an act of interpretation in itself.

Expressive Mechanics

The core verbs—Converse, Interpret, Craft—are the player’s tools for philosophical inquiry. They need to be designed with as much depth and intentionality as a combat system in another RPG.

• Philosophical Question: How does a player express their Incarnation’s unique interpretation of the world?

• Design Application:

  • Interpretation as a Mechanic: When an Incarnation encounters a new Fact (e.g., a ruined temple), how do they Interpret it? Is it a choice from a list (“This was a place of worship,” “This was a fortress,” “This was a prison”)? Does the choice cost them something? Does it add a new Fiction or Belief to their AgentBeliefStore?

  • Conversation as Weaving: Conversations shouldn’t just be about exchanging Facts. They should be a battleground of Fictions and an exploration of Faiths. Can the player choose to tell a lie (Fiction) to give another character hope? Can they challenge an NPC’s core Faith? The goal of dialogue is not just to get a quest, but to weave a Thread into another being’s life.

Ambiguous Revelation

The player is on a journey of Anamnesis—of remembering. The game’s structure should treat them not as a player to be taught, but as a metaphysician to be initiated. The truth of the universe should not be given; it should be pieced together.

• Philosophical Question: What does it feel like to slowly uncover the fundamental rules of reality, and to sometimes get it wrong?

• Design Application:

  • No Lore Dumps: The full nature of Eidos, Eidolon, and the Tapestry should never be explained in an opening crawl. Let the player’s first life be confusing. Let them die without understanding why. The “reflection” phase after death is the key tool. Maybe after the first death, we only give them a single word: Eidos. After the fifth, they see a glimpse of their Thread. After the tenth, they hear the word Tapestry.

  • Embrace “Getting it Wrong”: Allow the player to form incorrect Beliefs based on limited information. Let them build an entire Incarnation around a Faith that is ultimately revealed to be a manipulative Fiction. The “aha!” moment when they realize they were mistaken is a far more powerful form of learning than being told the correct answer upfront.

The Director AI

The Story Beat Heuristic Model is the key to making the procedural generation feel purposeful. Think of the story generator as a “Director AI” or a Greek Chorus. Its job is not just to create a world, but to create a world that resonates with the player’s journey.

• Philosophical Question: How does the universe itself seem to respond to the player’s evolving Thread?

• Design Application:

  • Thematic Resonance: The Director AI should read the player’s accumulated Eidos not just as data, but as a thematic signature. If a player’s Threads are consistently about betrayal, the next Tapestry they inhabit should be procedurally generated with a higher density of cultural Faiths and Fictions related to loyalty and treason.

  • Recurring Motifs: Don’t be afraid to have specific elements reappear across Tapestries, but warped by memory. The freighter captain the player was in their second life might be a legendary mythic figure (Fiction) in their tenth life. The name of a corporation they fought against might become the name of a demon in a later, more primitive Tapestry. This makes the player feel that their past lives are not just memories, but are actively seeding the reality of their future.